Here is an update on Trumpet phenom, Josh Shpak.  As you recall Josh sat in with Tower Of Power in June of this year (Josh is a student of Mic Gillette’s).  At that time Josh was about to visit Clark Terry at his home to study with Mr. Terry, and scheduled to go to the Berklee College of Music for a Summer workshop.

The following is an update from Michael Miller, Josh’s mentor:

“Dear Raoul,

If you’ll recall, we communicated just after my godson, Josh Shpak, sat in with Tower of Power at the Alameda County Fair here in California.

At that time, he was off to Boston to participate in the Berklee College of Music 5-Week Summer Jazz Workshop. Well, the big news is that, at the end of the final Berklee summer concert on Aug. 12th, the Berklee staff awarded Josh with a four-year/full-ride, full-tuition scholarship to the Berklee College of Music! With him currently only just beginning his senior year in high school, he can rest easy knowing he’ll be attending the best music school in the world starting in the Fall of 2011. How cool is that!?!?!!

Anyway…I thought I’d give you that news in case you’d like to update your site!

All the best from way out west,

Michael”

10.Prance around the house in PJ’s playing trombone parts with a toilet plunger.

9. You hear TOP music in stores and can’t stop doing the splits.

8. Plan your vacation around tour schedule knowing that your spouse may file charges.

7. Started watching Lawrence Welk rearranging the horn parts in your head.

6. Family does an intervention, you mock them by getting “Down on My knees”.

5. You work the word “Boogalate” into every conversation.

4. Wear an Oakland Raider jersey over your business suit for work.

3. Took a bus to Oakland, just to get beer poured on you and slapped around.

2. Did a life size BBQ rib sculpture of DG’s drum kit in the garage.

1. If you don’t know, you need to ask somebody.

Greg posted this last Monday on Facebook.

Rome, Italy 1991. “Andrea was with me on this trip. We started out in Nice, France for the Jazz Festival. We were there for a week and it was fabulous. Only played two shows so we got in plenty of beach time. With so many nights off we were able to eat at some fabulous restaurants. Like many trumpet players, we have to eat several hours before the gig because it’s difficult to play on a full stomach. For me it’s impossible to eat just before the show. Needless to say, we ate and drank it all. Ooh la la. As the week came to an end the band had another 5 or 6 gigs in other European cities. Andrea, along with, Nick Milo’s wife, (now ex) headed for Rome for the days we had to gig that would bring us to Rome at the end of the week. They stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel near the Spanish Steps. A very hip area. Right near the Via Condotti. Shopping anyone?.

We are in Rome for only one night and unbeknownst to us, the promoter has decided to change the hotel at the last minute. Well, the girls check out of the Interconti and head for the hotel on the itinerary. As they are getting further away from central Rome and climbing a rather large hill they ent…er a neighborhood that is, not what you would call a tourist destination. Their driver stops at the address on the itinerary. Oh boy. This can’t be right, and the band is nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, the band pulls up to the new hotel: The Crown Plaza Minerva, about a block from The Pantheon. Of course Nick and I were, to say the least, very concerned to put it mildly. And by now, Andrea’s Italian was good enough to try to find out what the hell was going on. We eventually connected and a car was sent for them to bring them back down the hill and to our hotel. They came from laundry han…ging from balconies and chickens in the street to the 5 star Minerva. Nick and I waited dutifully as they pulled up in a chauffered Mercedes Benz sedan. Nothing was funny. I mean nothing. After checking in to a drop dead gorgeous hotel room and lunch in the piazza nearby, all was forgiven. Even if it wasn’t our fault. Poor girls…

After lunch and a little sightseeing, we head back to the hotel to prepare for the gig. Tonights show is at the Rome Tennis Stadium. We do our soundcheck and then are told they have dinner for us in the stadium restaurant. Oh boy! Remember how I said earlier how early I must eat before a show? Besi…des, what could they possibly be serving? Fast food at best, one would think Wrong!!! How about insalata Caprese, followed with spaghetti marinara and ending with steak and French fries. Oh, and dessert too. Bottle after bottle of red wine and anything else you could imagine. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Italy!! How could I say no. And I didn’t. We finished …about 15 minutes before the downbeat. The house was full and waiting for a show. I never felt better and played my ass off that night. (As an aside, I’m positive I saw a very young Naomi Campbell in the audience dancing with some friends who were very obviously models, too.)

Just a footnote: Andrea and I were able to get one of the shuttle cars back to the hotel as soon as we finished. Others had to wait a couple hours at least. We lucked out because the band had a 4:30 am wake up call to catch a flight to Frankfurt. Sure was tough getting out of that warm bed with Andrea in it. That’s show biz.”

For more on Greg go to http://www.gregadamsmusic.com/ or http://www.eastbaysoul.com/